Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani said he trained with Conor McGregor for about two weeks when he was 17 ahead of McGregor’s 2016 fight against Nate Diaz.
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Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani says his high school opportunity to train with Conor McGregor came when he was 17 years old, before McGregor’s first fight against Nate Diaz in 2016.
Lobosnoyani described the moment his father called to tell him McGregor was at the gym and needed a training partner. “I had just eaten the most I've ever eaten in my life. As soon as I finished my meal, my dad calls me. He goes, ‘Conor's at the gym. He needs you to train right now.’ I was like, ‘Oh my God, I'm gonna barf all over this guy.’ We did a bunch of jiu-jitsu rounds and trained for about two weeks,” he said in comments relayed by Ariel Helwani.
Lobosnoyani said the sessions took place before McGregor met Dillon Danis. He added that McGregor has sent him messages throughout his career and wrote to congratulate him when he was signed to the UFC.
He said that when he met McGregor, “he was the most humble, down-to-earth guy,” and that despite “a lot of controversy with him,” he will always respect the Irish fighter. “He has a special place in my heart. At that point, he was at the pinnacle of his career,” Lebosnoyani said.
Lobosnoyani, listed at 12-2, earned his UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series last year and has won all three of his UFC fights. His first stoppage victory came against Farman Hasanov at UFC Vegas 123 on Oct. 31.
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